I really enjoyed your post about the changing landscape of human evolution. Or I guess, our discovery of a different landscape than expected. I find it endlessly interesting when science changes and evolves. We sometimes forget that we don't make the truth or shape the past - we just discover the way it was. And often, we get it wrong.
There are some contemporary issues I would like to talk about today, but I woke up mega early and worked all day then had unexpected (but wonderful) company drop in. So my next post will be about the contemporary issue that has been on my mind since Saturday night. But tonight, it's a bit too serious for me to get into. So instead I'm going to talk about Eloy Alfaro, as I earlier promised. Because the story of a man who helped to shape modern day Ecuador and was viciously murdered for his efforts is more uplifting... I guess.
So, yeah. Spoiler alert, this story doesn't end happily for our protagonist, but he does have a pretty incredible life that is important to understand if you want to understand Ecuadorian politics (which I did and still do).
Eloy Alfaro is known for many things in Ecuadorian history, primarily as a great liberal voice for a secular society, He was president of Ecuador twice, though both times he initially took power by force rather than by a vote. Though he was never brought to power by popular vote his name still looms large in the country; the nation's military college, a famous battleship, and Quito's airport all bear his name.
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| And one hopes his face, too. That is a good face for currency! |
Alfaro was a liberal from early in his life. He spent the first 50 years of his life struggling against conservatives, almost dying several times in the process. One of the most important things he did early in his life was marry a Panamanian heiress who helped him fund his literal battles against the establishment conservatives. Alfaro suffered a number of defeats and exiles before taking power in 1895 at the age of 53.
Among his most notable achievements was a great railroad that connected Quito, the capital city, with Guayaquil, the great industrial powerhouse on the Pacific. It was difficult mountainous terrain, but building it helped unify a country that geography had kept very divided for years. The railroad was completed in 1908 and made it much easier for people and goods to travel between the two major cities.
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| "I connected a whole country and all I got was my face on this lousy 50 cent piece!" |
Toward the end of his life Alfaro grew distrustful even of other liberals, even going so far as to tamper with the elections of 1910 to get his chosen successor elected. Then he asked the man to step aside and let him rule again. By then the conservative factions already hated Alfaro (for obvious reasons), but by strong-arming his own political base Alfaro burned many of the bridges he had earlier helped to build. He was not to rule again and was exiled from the country again.
In 1912 Alfaro returned and attempted another coup attempt, this one unsuccessful. He was imprisoned, but before he could be dealt with by any authorities an angry mob dealt him their own brand of justice. He was shot, tied to a wagon, dragged through the streets of the capital, and eventually his body was burned where the Parque El Ejido stands in Quito today.
Despite a checkered history that included dictatorial rule, tampering with free elections, coups d'etat, and general political repression Alfaro is well remembered today as one of the founding members of modern Ecuador. And in fact, he did a great deal to bring Ecuador into the modern age. He stripped away much of the Church's power and gave the issues of education, marriages, and deaths over to the state to run. This move, and others like it, forced the people of Ecuador to think of themselves in terms of their nationality as well as their religion. Alfaro was also an ally to the poor. He did away with debtors prisons and freed many hacienda workers (many of whom were native Ecuadorians). Alfaro made a major push for industrialization and with a newly mobile work force he was able to start, and eventually see completed, one of the great unifying structures of country - the railway from Quito to Guayaquil.
It is perhaps no great surprise that he is a particular role model of the current president Rafael Correa. After all Correa shares many of Alfaro's liberal principles and strives for a free, independent, strong Ecuador. He has also been very successful in negotiating Ecuador's large debt, lowering unemployment as well as lowering the high poverty level in the country. However, Correa shares his some of his role model's less appealing traits as well. Correa has been accused of nepotism, general corruption, limiting free speech, and taking too much of a government role in the private sector (especially where education is concerned). He has been president since 2007 (for 8 years now) and shows no signs of passing the reigns of power. Only time will tell if Correa is interested in building a political dynasty, his own dictatorship (in the style of Hugo Chavez), or only interested in building as strong a country as he can manage by any means necessary.
There are all kinds of ways to build a country. Though his methods may be questioned by modern (and likely his contemporary) politicians and scholars there can be no doubt that Alfaro did move the country forward in terms of modernization during his time in power. There can also be no doubt that Alfaro's name and legacy still loom large in the country's present and future, for good or ill.
Hope you learned something today!
Best wishes,
Owl
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